Miles and Laura were blood cousins; joined at the hip. And although they might have drifted away over the years, they were always able to find some time to be together regularily. When Laura commits suicide, Miles is left to her own agony and the repercussions of the event. She turns to prescription drugs and smoking to fill the voide, through with she connects with Laura's gay father. Then Miles' best guy friend all together forgets about her and she doesn't know who to turn to anymore. This is the story of one girl's struggle with depression, drug abuse, and obesity, but it is so much more than that. It is a story about recovery, survival, and hope.This is the second bok I have read by Rachel Cohn, the first one being Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist which I wasn't too fond of (although I admit that my review of that book might have been a teensy bit harsh...). My hope for this book was to form a second opinion of the author. I don't like not liking books and authors and thankfully my goal was completed. I really did appreciate this book. I don't think that with the topics it covers it was possible to thoroughly enjoy it, but it stretched my thinking and pulled me into a world drastically different from my own. Rachel Cohn did an amazing job of getting into the mind of a troubled teen and she wrote about it with conviction and reality. The main character, Miles, is really very intelligent but she has so many problems and issues that she has to deal with. And although she doesn't always solve those problems in the smartest way, you can see where she's coming from. I liked how realistic and plausible the host of characters were and how you came to understand each of them thoroughly in the span of this book. The author managed to cover so many things in a short number of pages which is very impressive. Also, it's not easy to write about so many controversial topics in the same piece. This book deals with obesity, drug abuse, gay rights, suicide, and racism. I liked reading a book that forced me to think. It's good to gain new insights and knowledge which this book really helped me to do. I would highly recommend this book if you're looking for something to challenge your thinking with. I liked it a lot.
